Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) in a letter to Salva Kiir Mayardit, President of Republic of the South Sudan to express concerned over the suspension of Al-Jazeera English bureau in Juba by South Sudan’s Media Authority on May 1, 2017.
PPF Secretary General Owais Aslam Ali in his letter urged government of South Sudan in order to stop the arbitrary closure of Al-Jazeera bureau in Juba as an attack on media freedom and right to free reporting in South Sudan.
According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the bureau’s staff is barred from covering anything in South Sudan until further notice to be issued by the Media Authority.
The ban follows a series of Al-Jazeera reports about the ongoing clashes between government forces and rebel troops. On 20 April, many civilians had been displaced due to fighting in the southern county of Kajo-Keji. Its references to the significant losses sustained by the government forces in the course of fighting seem to upset the authorities.